


Believe

by catpawz



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Love Confessions, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-06
Updated: 2016-01-06
Packaged: 2018-05-12 07:01:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5657062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catpawz/pseuds/catpawz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While at the Empress's ball, Dorian managed to hear the very end of a conversation taking place nearby. Despite not knowing the whole story, he heard enough to know the very core of what took place.</p><p>Bull had been cheating on him.</p><p>He didn't expect it to hurt so much.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Believe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JustJasper](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustJasper/gifts).



> The second gift I wrote for a holiday exchange. This one was for the adoribull holiday exchange, for justjasper!

Orlesian parties were suppose to be amazing, or so Dorian had heard. He expected even better than what the gossip alluded to from a ball held by the Empress of Orlais herself, but he was, unfortunately, disappointed by the reality. 

Perhaps the entire thing would be more enjoyable if the Inquisition was here simply for the party, and not to uncover some grand assassination plot. At the very least, Dorian was sure he’d be having a better time if the party-goers would stop mumbling behind his back. It wasn’t like he hadn’t heard it all before, but it was insulting that they thought he couldn’t hear them “whispering” a mere two feet away.

What would really make this evening enjoyable, however, was if he could talk to Bull. With the whole assassin thing, Dorian was instructed to keep a watchful eye over the garden, while Bull was stationed in the Hall of Heroes. He was only a few yards away, Dorian could probably go talk with him and keep an eye on the garden if they left the connecting door open, but he’d hate to be caught away from his station by the Inquisitor. She, as any good friend would, came checking on him every fifteen minutes or so, and as nice as it was to speak to a friend, it made slacking off hard.

“A Tevinter? In the Inquisition? Are they not worried about where his loyalties truly lay?” One man gasped behind a gloved hand. Little did he know that hiding your words behind your hand hardly helped when you were speaking at a normal volume.

“Oh I’m sure the Inquisitor would be able to handle him, should he turn out to be a spy. She’s a Trevelyan, after all. Quite the family, even if they are from the Free Marches.” At least this one had the common decency to lower his voice somewhat.

“‘Should’? Oh he most certainly is a spy, just look at him! And I heard that he’s been sleeping his way through-”

It was at this point that Dorian decided he had had enough, “Gentlemen, if I really was a spy, then perhaps you should know better than to have this conversation an arm’s length away?” He turned towards the nobles, who narrowed their eyes behind their painted masks and marched off. Dorian relaxed somewhat, though the words still clung to his mind. Nothing unusual. 

He could really use a drink. There was a servant carrying a tray of them nearby, wandering around and offering some to the various clusters of nobles, but he, too, was avoiding Dorian like the plague. Dorian couldn’t really blame him, elves and Tevinters were notorious for not getting along.

“-biggest I’ve ever seen!” A woman giggled nearby. Dorian managed to catch the last bit of her sentence as she and her friend stopped to talk by the fountain.

“Oh, you’re joking! I cannot believe you!” Her friend responded, awe threaded through every word, “You simply must tell me everything!”

“Not here, not here! Too public! But I will tell you this: for a qunari, he really does know how to please a woman!”

Qunari? How many qunari were there at the Winter Palace? As far as Dorian knew, Bull was the only one. He was sure he would have noticed if there were more hanging about.

Right?

…

Dorian really needed a drink.

* * *

“Inquisitor?” Dorian watched as the Inquisitor tried tirelessly to climb up onto the rafters in order to reach a Halla statue. She looked ridiculous, and she was wasting time.

“I’m almost there, Dorian, I promise! Just a little… closer…” she reached her arm out as far as it would go, clinging tightly to the rafter with the other. The Halla was just out of reach.

“I was just wondering something,” he glanced about the kitchen, confirming that Bull and Sera were still deeper into the servants quarters, exploring the area for any clues they might have missed, “Have you seen any qunari around the Winter Palace? Beyond Bull, I mean.”

“Uhhh…” she was either mulling it over, or too focused on the statue to answer. Finally, after inching just a little bit closer, she managed to grab the blighted thing. “Yes!”

“You have seen other qunari around, then?” Dorian was desperately hoping that her exclamation of joy was an answer to his question, not just her reaction to finally getting her hands on the statue.

“What?” Carefully, she slid herself down off the rafters and landed gracefully on the table. It was amazing how someone who just spent five minutes trying to steal a seemingly useless Halla statue could have so much grace. “No, I haven’t seen any qunari. Dorian, there is no way the Empress would invite a qunari, nor any way any of these poncy nobles would bring one.”

“Right. Of course,” he tried to keep the disappointment out of his voice. If there wasn’t any other qunari at the Palace, then did that mean Bull really had slept with that woman? He refused to believe it. There was no way Bull would do such a thing, not after they decided to keep their relationship monogamous unless they both consented to bringing someone new in, but Dorian couldn’t get the idea out of his mind.

“Why do you ask?”

“I was just wondering. All I’ve seen in the garden were other humans, but you’ve been running all over the place.”

Trevelyan considered his response for a moment, and made a face as if she was unhappy about it. Dorian feared she would question him further, but Bull and Sera came back just in the nick of time.

“Great, the gang’s all here! Let’s get moving, the assassin isn’t going to wait until we figure out who he is to murder the Empress!”

“Tactfully put,” Dorian muttered, lagging behind the rest of the group as they stepped outside.

* * *

Back in the garden, Dorian had no choice but to think over this new information, with nothing else to do. The waiter was gone now, so his chances of getting any alcohol into him to make this any more bearable were down to none.

There were no other qunari in the Winter Palace. He knew as much, it was rather obvious that none would show up, even if they were invited. Still, the realization hit him like a sack of bricks. Bull had to have slept with that woman, there was no other way around it. 

It wasn’t like Dorian expected any different. They were both men unaccustomed to being in a relationship. Dorian was far more used to quick trysts with unnamed men in dark corners, he had never been in a “relationship” for more than an hour. Bull was a qunari, completely incapable of love. He was far more used to one-night stands and pretty barmaids than he was to being romantically invested in someone who was suppose to be his worst enemy.

Still, the thought that Bull didn’t really want him hurt. 

How long had this been going on for? As far as Dorian knew, Bull never stopped messing around with the waitresses and stable hands at Skyhold. Maybe he never would.

Dorian could live with being one of Bull’s regulars. He could live with sharing. If that was what was required to keep some semblance of intimacy between them, he was willing to pay the price.

“Dorian!” The booming voice pulled Dorian from his thoughts, but only for a short moment before Dorian realized who the voice belonged to.

“Bull. I thought you were watching the Hall,” Dorian tried to remain casual, but Bull was nothing if not perceptive.

“Something got you down, big guy?” Bull stepped in closer to the mage, looking him up and down as if he could read Dorian’s mind just by examining him.

“No, nothing. The night is simply dragging is all,” Dorian responded, faking a quick smile. If Bull noticed that, he didn’t say anything.

“Yeah, I understand. But hey, Evelyn said we could have an hour to recover from the servants’ quarters. How about you and I go somewhere a bit more quiet? I found this great spot upstairs-”

“Really? How’d you find that?” Dorian snapped. It was growing more and more difficult to keep the emotion from his voice, to keep from confronting Bull then and there. Dorian was finding he wasn’t as okay with sharing as he thought he might be.

“Dorian, what’s-”

“Listen, Bull. I’m sorry, but I’m not interested.”

“What’s wrong?” Bull rested a hand on Dorian’s shoulder, probably trying to comfort him. Dorian yanked his shoulder away.

“Katoh. Stop worrying about me and go find something else to do.” Someone else to do, his mind corrected him. Dorian managed to keep the words down before storming off back into the Palace.

* * *

Going into the Empress’s private quarter was scandalous, but it was necessary if they wanted to save her life. Dorian might have enjoyed it, if it was just him, the Inquisitor, and Sera. As it was, Iron Bull had to come as well.

The tension between them was likely obvious. The entire time they spent exploring was awkward because of it, to the point where not even Sera made any comments.

Bull kept shooting sideways glances Dorian’s way, and Dorian pointedly ignored them, and him. He wanted nothing to do with the qunari right now, and was really wishing both that Bull would confront him about it and that Bull would continue to ignore him. 

The massive rift and the reveal of the true assassin was enough to keep Dorian occupied for a short while, but he was so very used to fighting demons that soon all he could think about was Bull and that woman… He bet she had been a redhead. 

“I should have known!” The Inquisitor was groaning, throwing her arms up in exasperation once the rift was gone. “She was being so weird on the dance floor! I should have known it was her!”

“Well, let’s go be done with it, yeah? I wanna go back to the food!” Sera seemed equally exasperated, though it was likely because all this higher-up people nonsense was driving her insane. 

Dorian, too, was excited to end this. They could go stop Florianne and then Dorian could attempt to enjoy the rest of the party in peace. If Bull was so liberal with whom he took to bed, maybe Dorian could be, too. He saw a few of the nobles sending discreet signals his way, mostly women but there was a man or two amongst them as well. He wouldn’t have to spend the remainder of the night alone.

“Dorian and I’ll stay back for just a moment, if you don’t mind, Boss,” Bull spoke up, the first time he’d done so since they snuck away from the party. Dorian turned to him quickly, trying to ask what in Andraste’s name are you doing with his eyes, but Bull wasn’t looking at him.

“No, not at all,” Trevelyan looked wary, as if she wasn’t sure leaving them alone was a good idea. “Just hurry back, alright? Do you mind if we deal with the Duchess without you two?”

“Nah, go ahead. We might take a bit,” Bull smirked, trying to play off the idea that nothing was wrong, but not even he with all his skill at manipulation could succeed at that.

“Right. Well… yeah. Hurry back,” Trevelyan repeated, before she and Sera hurried off towards the party once more.

Now alone, Dorian was free to ask his questions aloud, “What are you doing?”

“I know you said ‘katoh’ Dorian, and I swear that if you still don’t want to talk I won’t bring it up again, but I’m worried about you.”

“What happened to ‘no questions asked’?” 

Bull didn’t respond, clearly he had no answer to give. 

Dorian wanted to tell him. He wanted to confront him for what he’s done, but if Bull saw he was upset about it he might try to deny it. The best way to weasel an admission of guilt out of the qunari would be to seem nonchalant about it.

“…There was a woman. In the garden. She was talking about you.” Excellent job at sounded nonchalant, Pavus. If his voice had been shaking any more, he might have started to shiver himself.

“What did she say?”

“That,” Dorian paused for a moment, voice caught in his throat, “that for a qunari, you knew how to please a woman.” 

Neither spoke for a few moments. The only sound was Dorian’s deep breathing, his attempt to keep himself calm, and the crickets chirping around them.

“You think I slept with her?” Bull sounded disappointed, not that he had any reason to. Dorian’s anger flared.

“And I have very good reason to believe so, yes! Look at us, Bull! Neither of us are meant for romance. You’ll always be more happy when you have options, I get that! I just wish you had come to me and told me that face-to-face instead of sleeping with people behind my back!”

“I know which woman you’re talking about. The one with the purple mask and big hat?”

“Funny you’re so well acquainted with her clothing of all things.”

Bull ignored the retort and continued his explanation, “she came up to me earlier this night, tried talking me up. I told her I was taken and she left. What you hear was probably just her trying to seem mature to a friend, she was young.”

“And do you have any proof of this? Any reason I should believe you and not my own ears?”

“Nothing beyond my word, no,” Bull sighed.

Was it really raining? Dorian hadn’t noticed, but he couldn’t think of a single other reason for the water streaming down his cheeks, smearing his kohl in the process.

“Dorian, I can promise you right now, I would never cheat on you like that. I may be new to romantic relationships, but I know enough to not do something so shitty as go have sex with some random woman at a party.” Bull explained, and added, “not when I can be fucking you whenever I want.”

Dorian sniffed, trying to process the entire thing at once. Could it be possible that Bull hadn’t really cheated on him? He wanted to believe it, more than anything, and yet Bull was right. There was no proof of Bull’s innocence beyond his own testimony.

“I love you, Dorian.”

“Wha-” Dorian’s eyes went wide at the confession. Despite having been in a relationship for a solid month, now, neither had said such a thing to the other. Oddly enough, Bull’s saying that had to be the most intimate thing he had ever done to Dorian.

“And I understand if you don’t believe me.”

“I-…” Dorian thought for another moment. “I believe you. And… And I love you, too.”

Another, long moment of silence passed between them. Bull was smiling, though, and that made it easier to handle.

“You do realize you’re going to have to make this whole thing up to me?” Dorian teased, “you’ve smudged my kohl.”

“Trevelyan left the cuffs on the Empress’s bed, you know,” Bull’s smile widened and he offered his arm. “If you are so inclined. I’m sure she could handle herself for another twenty minutes or so.”

“Only twenty minutes?” Dorian sniffed again and took Bull’s arm, “You insult me. I can last longer than twenty minutes.”

“We’ll see about that.”


End file.
